I used to think of game models as boxes on top of boxes. That is to say, that they would be extremely low polygon creations in which you could expect to see many sharp corners. This approach, has of course, changed over time.

Continuous improvements in graphic hardware allow our current game models to reach very high polygon counts. Although I have just started to research the trends, I felt like I could create one of these "game-engine friendly" models.

Thanks to dmak for getting me a book that covered this very topic, a great present! This book is a great start and already I have learned much about game models from it. Check it out if you need a quick start in game modeling; Game Character Modeling...

Although I started going through the book with the given character, I plan on making him my own. I could finish him as a pirate, but I want to learn everything on my own. This means I'll be learning how to unwrap the model and I'll have to create my own texture maps in Photoshop.

The book does come with a finished model and all the necessary graphics to complete the pirate character, and there is nothing wrong with pirates; aargh!

-= Getting Started

I began with spline outlines, added some cross-sections, and pulled some vertices a bit to create one quarter of the wire cage.

Labels: 3d, VanDerDick